Court refuses bid for Aussie expert to give evidence via Skype

 

The High Court says although Parliament had passed amendments to an Act to allow for virtual hearing, it had yet to be gazetted.

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has disallowed an Australian pathologist from giving evidence via Skype on behalf of parents of a doctor who died under mysterious circumstances in Langkawi 10 years ago.

Judicial commissioner Quay Chew Soon said though Parliament had passed amendments to the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 to allow for a virtual hearing, they had yet to be gazetted.

“In addition, the rules for the procedures have yet to be finalised,” he said in his ruling that dismissed the application by Joseph Sebastian and P Santaamal.

However, the judge did not order the parents to pay costs to the government, the defendant in a negligence suit.

The application was made as Dr Richard Byron Collins could not leave Australia to give evidence in person.

Lawyer M Visvanathan said Quay had now vacated the trial date, scheduled between Dec 8 and 12.

“The judge has now fixed case management on Jan 4, 2021 to appraise the situation on the amendments and the rules,” the lawyer told FMT, adding that there was still hope that the expert’s evidence could be taken via a virtual hearing.

The suit was filed after a coroner’s court in Alor Setar delivered an open verdict in the death of Dr Sebastian Joseph early last year.

An inquest could not determine whether Sebastian died due to suicide, natural causes or foul play by a third party.

Conducting officer from the Attorney-General’s Chambers took the position that Sebastian died from natural causes.

In the statement of claim, the plaintiffs said the investigation officer in the case did not conduct a thorough probe but merely handed over the body to the Langkawi Hospital.

Further, they said there was no actual post-mortem done, except for a few incisions on the body.

A doctor who conducted the post-mortem had merely stated that the cause of death was “un-ascertained”.

Sebastian, 30, was found dead in his government quarters in Padang Matsirat on Nov 17, 2010.

The deceased, a medical officer at the Kuah government clinic in Langkawi, was said to be in a kneeling position with his hands clenched when police found the body.

The doctor’s brother, Anthony, lodged a police report when Sebastian did not respond to phone calls and failed to turn up for work.

In 2015, the family successfully made an application to conduct a second post-mortem to exhume the body at the Christian cemetery in Shah Alam in the hope that the remains would be sufficient to determine the cause of death and to hold an inquest.

The family brought in Richard and local expert Prof Dr Kasinathan Nadesan, to conduct the autopsy at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for failure to conduct the first post-mortem according to the standard required under the medical profession and compensation for expenses incurred to conduct the second autopsy. - FMT